others
also served the Vincennes community. In later years, the
congregation did have rabbis come from time to time for the High
Holidays. During the war years, the rabbis also conducted
services for the Jewish airmen stationed at George Field, Illinois,
located approximately nine miles from Vincennes. Many times the

congregation hired a chazzen,
a trained professional singer, who

assisted
the rabbi in the religious services.21

One of the
special festivals held by the local Jewish congre­gation was the
Purim Festival, which celebrated the rescue of the Jews of Persia
by the Jewish Queen Esther from Haman's plot to exterminate every
man, woman and child. Sam Rosenberg often read the Megillah, the
Scroll of Esther, as did many of the other learned men. Al
Rosenberg recalled being in this play in the hall mentioned
earlier in the paper, and in later years the Dumes and Rosenberg
children participated with other children of the Jewish community in
the play.

The
congregation transformed a small grocery store on the corner of
Eighth and Harrison Streets into the Hovas Hochim Congregation in
1935, and services were held in the synagogue on a regular basis
until 1965. In 1976, the building was demolish­ed, and the
religious artifacts moved to the non-demoninational Maria Creek
Chapel on the campus of Vincennes University. Two Torahs, which
include the basic rules of Judaism and prescribe the religious rites,
a stone carving of the Ten Commandments,